


I Like Liking The Things That You Do

by MythicalMochi



Category: Rhett & Link, buddy system - Fandom
Genre: Buddy System, Clothed Sex, First Time, Fluff and Smut, Grinding, Idiots in Love, Kissing, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-18
Updated: 2019-12-18
Packaged: 2021-02-26 08:29:16
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,908
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21846715
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MythicalMochi/pseuds/MythicalMochi
Summary: Rhett and Link discover that they do have something in common after all.(Set in the Buddy System Season 2 Universe)
Relationships: Rhett McLaughlin/Link Neal
Comments: 9
Kudos: 52
Collections: Mythical Secret Santa 2019





	I Like Liking The Things That You Do

**Author's Note:**

  * For [BigTimeMoch](https://archiveofourown.org/users/BigTimeMoch/gifts).



> This is my gift to @Moch-ila/BigTimeMoch for the Mythical Secret Santa 2019 gift exchange! I hope you enjoy!

Link busied himself with tidying up the quaint one-bedroom house he’d been calling home for the past few months. It was the least he could do for Rhett who graciously let him stay despite having no current leads to a new job. He was forever thankful, so he’d always do his best to keep himself from being a burden. Tidying up, taking care of the mundane chores, organizing and dusting the collections of oddities Rhett had lying around. 

  
Link would often bring up how self-conscious and embarrassed he felt about being jobless and taking up Rhett’s space, but he was always met with a cool, nonchalant “Don’t apologize. We’re friends, man. Just consider it us hanging out.” He didn’t know why Rhett was so gracious towards him, but he knew not to look a gift horse in the mouth. He would just continue to search for a job and do his best to make Rhett’s life a little easier while he was around.

  
After taking a few rounds of the house and cleaning up any little messes or misplaced items as he usually did every afternoon, Link made his way to the living room. He looked over the bookcase against the wall and swiped his finger across one of the shelves, scrunching his nose at the swatch of dust he picked up. He’d apparently missed that last time.

  
Taking the microfiber towel out of his back pocket, he began wiping down the shelves, occasionally taking out an especially dusty book and giving it a careful wipe with the cloth. There were all sorts of texts, ranging from colorful cookbooks to thick encyclopedias to spiritual readings with ornate gold foil covers. Link would occasionally take a quick flip through one, like taking a peek into Rhett’s mind and preferences.

  
Link took special care to keep the books in the same condition they started in, whether they be shiny and new with the spine unbroken, to craggly and fragile with flecks of old paper falling off. One of which was planted solidly in the latter category. He ever-so-carefully slid the book from its slot, cradling it in his hand as he gently wiped the dust off of the gnarled cover. He was just about to lift the cover to peek inside when the sound of the front door closing behind him tore his attention away. Link looked over his shoulder to see Rhett, grocery bags in hand as he kicked off his loafers onto a nearby area rug.

  
“Hey Link!” Rhett always seemed so cheerful to see him, despite their situation, and it always made Link’s insides feel warm.

  
“Hey Rhett,” Link replied with a smile, turning and holding up the book and giving the cover a soft scrub with the towel to signify what he was up to. Rhett’s eyes went wide as he set the grocery bags down onto the couch and walked over, carefully reaching for the book.

  
"Hey now, careful with that one, alright? That's an original transcript of the Kama Sutra."

  
"The Kama-what?" 

  
"The Kama Sutra," Rhett spoke in an announcer-like voice, sauntering over to where Link stood. "An ancient Sanskrit text on sexuality, eroticism, and emotional fulfillment."

  
Link fumbled the book in shock before Rhett even finished his explanation, gently cradling it in his hands as it landed with a hollow thunk. He gave Rhett a sheepish grin as he carefully handed the old book back over to its owner. Rhett hummed in concentration as he righted the book, gently flipped through the pages and settled on one, leaning over to show Link. The page was full of text, save for a large half-page artistic rendering of two people, very much nude and effectively pretzeled together. Link’s shoulders hunched more and more as Rhett flipped through various pages, each with its own image of a new and ridiculous position. If Link had pearls, he'd be clutching them. 

  
"O-okay, I get it, just--" Link sputtered, gesturing for Rhett to remove the book from his vicinity. Rhett straightened back up, a puzzled look on his face. 

  
"What’re you afraid of?”

  
“I’m not afraid of it. It’s just _weird._ ” Link visibly shuddered, as if shaking off the mental image. Rhett found the open slot and carefully slid the book back into its place before leaning against the shelves, exuding an aura of cocky confidence.

  
“Nothin’ weird about going the extra mile to please a woman, buddy.”

  
Link scoffed. “Yeah, like you know anything about that.”

  
Rhett’s mouth went agape, his eyebrows furrowed in bewilderment, shocked Link had the nerve to say such a thing when he knew damn well he had no authority. "You're one to talk!" He spat out, giving Link a once-over.

  
“I’ve been living here for _months_ , man. And not once have I seen you bring a girl home. Some good that book did.”

  
“I'm sorry, but last I checked, you had a chance with Vanessa and she dumped you for a freakin’ _robot_ , man!"

  
“Well it looks like I’m still doing better than you.” Link said matter-of-factly, turning now to face Rhett square on. Rhett straightened up and puffed his chest, taking a half-step closer to Link. 

  
"Yeah, swaying a girl by her shoulders after a date. Real slick, Casanova." Rhett tried to knock Link down a peg, but it didn’t seem to phase him at all.

  
"When's the last time you even touched a woman?" 

  
Rhett paused, mouth opening and closing a few times for lack of a proper response. As much as he hated to admit it, he had a point. It's been a long, long dry set of years. But he thought surely he's better off than Link. The man probably thought missionary was too kinky. 

  
"It's none of your business." Rhett replied curtly, but his expression cracked upon seeing Link's lips turn up into a triumphant smile. He was positively high on this little victory over Rhett. 

  
"What, being a Kenneth Kenneth fanboy doesn't have the ladies falling at your feet? Or the ridiculous chenille, chiffon, chartreuse--"

  
"It's charmeuse,"

  
"--things you insist on wearing? Surprised you don't have dates lined up around the block."

  
Rhett’s shoulders fell at the comment. _Ridiculous?_ That was rich coming from the man who wore nothing but department store polos and khakis. Rhett thought he looked nice, distinguished, exquisite even. But suddenly he was becoming hypercritical of his choices.

  
The two stood in silence for a moment, but Link’s overconfident posture slowly softened upon seeing the irritation and slight betrayal in Rhett’s eyes. Link sighed heavily, letting his weight fall onto the bookcase shelves.

  
“Look, I’m sorry. I didn’t really mean all that. I was projecting. I don’t even know if I can remember what the womanly touch feels like.” Link said with a shrug and a self-deprecating laugh. Rhett nodded, crossing his arms as he heaved a sigh of his own. 

  
“I’m sorry too. You’re right, Link. I don’t know how I can expect anyone to truly appreciate me and the weird things I like. I just can’t find anyone to stick around longer than the first date. Once they figure out what I’m about, they run.”

  
“Hey, come on now,” Link brought a hand up and clapped Rhett on the shoulder a few times. “We’ve both got our own thing, but it doesn’t mean we’re wrong for it. You like what you like! It’s just not everyone’s cup of tea. But you’ll find someone! We’ll both find someone!”

  
Rhett glanced up at Link and the bright smile beaming below his dark moustache. Rhett nodded slowly as he gave a smile back. Sure, Link got on his nerves like no one else could, but he really, truly was a good person with good intentions and that always shone through everything he did. It was one part of why he genuinely enjoyed Link’s company. 

  
"You know, you've been the only person who's been able to tolerate me and my eccentricities. So thanks, Link. Really." Link nodded, his lopsided smile still present on his face.

  
“Of course, Rhett. But I’m not tolerating you. Don’t make it sound like it’s a chore to be your friend. I may complain at first about some of the things you do, but I like it. Honest. I think you're...I think you're really great.”

  
Rhett smiled warmly, the minor blow-up from earlier long forgotten at this point. He couldn’t stay mad at Link. He had such a stupidly endearing way about him that made it hard to stay mad. He took a minute to look into Link’s eyes, to drink in the current moment. His kind, innocent, impossibly blue eyes. It meant a lot to him that Link stuck around. It meant a lot that Link shared in his life when no one else bothered to. Link became such a staple in his life and it meant the world to him. Link’s presence always felt natural, like he’d been there for decades, right by Rhett’s side. While at first Rhett simply needed an extra $200 a month until he could swing it on his own, he began to realize that he hated imagining what life would be like when Link would eventually move on with his life. To lose that cheerful morning greeting or hushed wishes for a good night’s sleep, that go-to friend when you need a laugh or a shoulder. To lose that dorky, straight-laced polo-wearing man that he came to really like. That he came to love, over time. It felt wrong at first, for reasons even he didn't know. And then there was the fear of rejection. But despite the reservations, as the months went on, he only grew fonder of the man he spent every day with. And the fondness came to a culmination, a boiling point as he looked into his eyes.

  
Link’s smile slowly dissipated as he watched Rhett lean closer, almost too slow to register, his gaze intense and piercing. His mind flashed back to the moment by Vanessa’s pool when she leaned in, lips pursed and ready, but this time his first instinct wasn’t to panic and divert. Despite the fact that every muscle in his body froze in place, something about this moment felt better than that last time, like it was meant to happen. That it was okay.

  
Link’s eyes widened as Rhett closed in more and more. It was all so much happening in the span of a few seconds. Link wasn’t stupid. He knew what a kiss was, what it meant. But the nuances of this one were lost on him. Did Rhett really feel this way about him all this time? 

  
Then it all clicked. Suddenly a lot of Rhett’s behavior began to make sense. Wanting to spend time together, urging him to join in his hobbies and rituals, giving gifts, dreamy gazes. Hell, there was that one time where he accidentally got drunk off of rum-filled chocolates and couldn’t make it up the ladder to his bunk so Rhett let him sleep right there in his bed and never made him feel weird about it, even if he woke up with a leg haphazardly draped over Rhett’s silk-clad thighs. They were signs, and he then came to realize that he was also ignoring his own all this time.

  
Link jumped and gasped as he felt a hand touch his cheek, his eyes refocusing to see Rhett’s face only a few centimeters from his own. This was it. It was happening. It was happening.

  
Link let out an involuntary squeak as Rhett’s lips ghosted his own, his eyes shutting tight as their lips then pressed together so softly. It felt like fireworks went off in his brain while warm summer sunshine erupted in the pit of his belly. It was intense, and it was new and a bit scary, but he quickly decided it was good. 

  
Rhett’s hand moved to the back of Link’s head as his other worked its way to his narrow waist. Link tried to will his body to move, to react in any way, but his mind was so overwhelmed with the sensations; Rhett’s prickly beard on his chin, his warm coffee-scented breath caressing his face, his large hands touching him in places they never have before, the spicy and woody scent that enveloped him, even just the mere presence of Rhett. Tall, strong, looming over him with ease and so, so close.

  
Rhett broke the kiss for a split second just to begin another, hips lips soft and enveloping. Rhett’s hand pressed against Link’s hip, pushing gently to direct Link backwards until his back met the bookcase shelves. Link’s heart skipped a beat as he felt Rhett’s weight slowly press onto him. Gosh, he was so warm. Warm and soft and safe. Link finally willed his hands to move, placing them carefully on Rhett’s waist. The soft moan he received in return let him know that it was the right choice. The sound ignited something within Link that he never experienced before, at least not this strongly. It felt hot and urgent and made his breath quicken and the muscles in his belly tighten. It was nothing like when he’d take care of himself in private. This was new and incredibly intoxicating. 

  
Rhett stepped forward, slotting his long leg between Link’s, pressing a thigh up against the man before him. Link let out a guttural sound of surprise as he pressed himself tighter against the bookcase, shying away from the touch. Rhett’s hand gave the back of Link’s neck a gentle squeeze as a whispered _“It’s okay, you’re okay, just trust me.”_ ghosted over Link’s plump lips. Link whimpered as his hands squeezed Rhett’s waist in reply, nodding minutely. 

  
Rhett sighed and deepened the kiss, his tongue lapping at Link’s bottom lip in request. Link’s tongue cautiously slipped out, meeting Rhett’s with a conjoined moan between the two of them. Rhett gently pressed his thigh against Link’s pelvis again, meeting an obviously hard mass beneath the pressed khakis, and Link keened, his mouth open wide against Rhett’s as the sound rang out into the room. Rhett took the chance to dip his tongue into Link’s mouth, and suddenly, it’s as if the lightbulb finally turned on in Link’s head. Link’s hands gripped harder and pulled Rhett against him, pressing as much of their bodies together as he could, his tongue now exploring just as bravely as Rhett’s. He was hungry and desperate and wanton and it made Rhett’s heart swell and his cock throb with need like he’d never known before.

  
Rhett gyrated his hips slowly but purposefully, grinding his own arousal against Link’s hip as he worked Link over with his thigh, rubbing and pressing his hard cock through his pants as Link moaned and whimpered and gasped, his hands rhythmically squeezing and releasing against Rhett’s silk shirt. Link panted into the kiss, barely able to catch his breath.

  
“Wait, Rhett, oh gosh, I think I--”

  
Rhett kissed Link harder, cutting him off, grinding into him with reckless abandon, his own climax sneaking up on him fast. “I know, I know, me too,” Rhett panted, his moans rising in pitch as he slipped his hand down to cup Link’s ass, pushing him ever harder to his own body. With that, Link cried out, throwing his head back as his knees nearly buckled beneath him, spilling come into the confines of his khakis as his fingers dug into the skin of Rhett’s waist. Rhett met the same fate not moments later, burying his face and his drawn out moan into Link’s shoulder as he pressed into him, his hand squeezing the soft flesh of his ass as his cock throbbed and pulsed, emptying himself against the warmth of Link’s hip with a few last shallow thrusts.

  
The pair stayed there, panting and sweating and muscles begging to go limp. Rhett’s head rested heavy on Link’s shoulder as Link’s head stayed lolled back onto the bookcase shelf, their bodies still pressed tight to one another’s. 

  
“Are you okay?” Rhett mumbled into the collar of Link’s polo after a minute of catching their breath, a wave of embarrassment now washing over him as his post-climax haze slowly faded. He’d never acted so impulsively in his life and could only hope that it wasn’t too much too fast for Link. In return, Link let out an exhausted chuckle that was like music to Rhett’s ears.

  
“I don’t know about you, but I’ve never felt better.”

  
Rhett nuzzled his face harder into Link’s neck as he brought both of his hands around the small of Link’s back, giving him a gentle and meaningful squeeze. He felt so grateful for everything that led him to this very moment.

  
“Well, except for one thing. Can we clean up? I can’t stand wet clothes, makes my skin crawl.” Link said with a long exhale, his voice breathy and coarse. Rhett chuckled, amused by the fact that even after all that, his finicky roommate--if he could still call him that-- hadn’t changed. Rhett finally lifted his head, his eyes searching and finding Link’s, taking a moment to remember Link’s face as it was right now. Sweaty, flushed, wrecked, and the hint of a lopsided smile on his lips. Rhett nodded and planted a soft kiss to Link’s lips, this time with no hesitation. 

  
They both hoped, from that moment on, for that hesitation to never come back.


End file.
